A Rose in Autumn
by SoughtArbiter
Summary: Meet Akito Unzari. Him and his team hailed from the infamous 'Lighthouse Academy' where he and his team were trained into the prodigies they are now... But at what cost? What happened behind those walls? What happened to his eye? How does he know Ruby and her past? And most importantly, why does Ozpin feel like he has heard his last name before?


Prologue

Four Autumns

Part One

A Resonating Autumn

Ruby had just received her first 'high-risk' solo mission from Glynda. It was supposed to be a simple Extermination job on a large den of Beowolf. When she arrived at the 'den' she found it wasn't a simple den, it was a large cluster of dens, at least 15 dens. It was then that she realized why this mission was high-risk. She began her swift and elegant extermination of the Beowolfs residing in the multiple dens. When she was finished she was about to leave until she was ambushed by three alpha Beowolf, which leads us to her current predicament.

...

Ruby glared at her current opponent, planning on what she should do to end this mission quickly she decided to launch herself at the final alpha only to be met head on by the Beowolf. The colliding force from the much stronger alpha had sent Ruby hurtling towards a tree. Having no way of stopping herself seeing as she had lost her grip on Crescent Rose she braced for impact on the large oak tree. Slamming into the tree at high velocities she knew for a fact that she must have broken a rib or two from that as well as dislocated her left shoulder.

She watched as the large, white Beowolf slowly slinked its way to her, snarling at her for killing the other two alphas. She began to study the creatures features as it made its way to her. It had one blood red eye and one cold ice blue eye that had a scar over it; its snow white coat sparked her interest as she studied it. For a reason beyond her she did not know why the Beowolf's coat brought her comfort, maybe it was because it would be the last thing she saw or maybe it was because it reminded her of her mother's cloak. With that she looked up at the tree to see her impact on it had knocked off all of the leaves... All but one. It had a curious color to it. It was midnight purple while the veins were sunset orange. She admired it before realizing she couldn't die here, not until she became a well-known Huntress.

'I have to move! I need to run! Get up Ruby! Get up dammit! Get up...' The silver eyed girl thought as tears began to stream down her face from the helplessness she felt in her position. She wanted to move, she needed to move but she couldn't and it terrified her. She watched in utter horror as the alpha Beowolf raised its claw high above its head, intending to kill her with one last slash. She closed her eyes and accepted her fate as she remembered all of the times she had spent with her new and old friends, all of her hopes and dreams crumbling in a single, dark moment. As she found that she was untouched she slowly, wearily opened her eyes to see an image that she did not expect...

In front of her stood a young man holding the slash back with his weapon draped over his right shoulder in a defensive position. She looked over his features with a questioning look. He was at least 16 years old and looked to be a little over six feet tall. He had unruly dark brown, almost black hair that seemed to reach the nape of his neck, giving him a bedhead look. He wore a black casual dress shirt. The shirt was unbuttoned in the front and on the cuffs while the collar was propped up to give him the look of a delinquent. He was wearing marble white head phones that had a black dragon engraved into them. He also wore a simple grey undershirt that had a large, white X going from his shoulders to the tip if his shirt. His pants were an array of different shades of purple in a ripple pattern. His most noticeable feature was his eyes. His left eye was violet while his right eye had a sky blue eyepatch over it with a decorative silver cross on it. He had a soft look in his violet eye before speaking.

"A little rose like you shouldn't wilt away so quickly after just growing its thorns. Rest for now, I will handle it from here." The boy stated softly as the alpha jumped back, surprised by the boy's sudden intervention. Snarling at the boy it readied itself for either the mysterious boy to attack or for him to take the initiative. She saw his eye go from soft violet to a dangerous midnight purple. She was taken aback by the sudden change in his eye when he turned around to face the white Beowolf. He held his weapon in a stance that one would use to throw it with his body turned so his left side was facing the white Grimm before making a simple, yet cryptic statement.

"When a young rose is placed in danger an unwavering Autumn will protect it til it is safe from harm..."

She watched in awe as the boy threw his weapon, a scythe from the looks of it, at the alpha. She sat there in disbelief, watching the spinning scythe whistle through the airwaves unhindered, never thinking that he would ACTUALLY throw his weapon at the Beowolf who was grinning like mad at his action, only for the impossible to occur; the scythe boomeranged back towards the boy slicing the white alpha Beowolf in half, flying cleanly through its midsection that was halved with surgical precision. The boy caught the scythe's long black handle with his right hand before spinning it at speeds only Ruby could rival, effectively cleaning the blade of the crimson liquid before he turned it back to its portable state, which looked like a simple four foot long staff that he tucked snugly into the madder red scarf he had tied around his waist in the form of a sash, the knot being on his left hip. He tossed her a small medkit before walking off. He paused in his tracks and turned his head to her before him making a statement that would send shivers up the girl's spine.

"This will not be the last time we meet Ruby Rose, nor was it the first..."

After that he continued to walk off before snapping his fingers loudly and disappearing right before her eyes, only a cloud of falling leaves in his place. Her eyes grew wide as she watched the leaves float down to the ground and disappear into nothingness, leaving not a trace of the boy.

"T-those leaves..." She began before trailing off. The leaves were an interesting color. They were midnight purple while the veins were sunset orange...

Part Three

A Hazy Autumn

Weiss, along with Ruby, Blake and Yang had been given her first 'high-risk' solo mission. It was a simple Scout and Exterminate mission on a village that had been destroyed by a large pack of Ursa. When she arrived at the village sight the scent of death, smoke and blood assaulted her senses. She could see some Ursa hanging around the sight, making for easy pickings. She had cleanly killed all of the Ursa that populated the area, which left her feeling a little dissatisfied, that was until she was rushed by two Ursa Majors. This event leads us to her current predicament.

...

The white haired girl was breathing heavily as she tried to stand her ground against the Majors. The heiress of the Schnee Corporation knew she had to do something and fast. She watched her two opponents carefully until she found an opening in one of their defenses. Not wishing to waste the chance that was given to her she created a Glyph of propulsion and launched herself at the open Ursa only to realize it was an act put up by the duo, she was wide open and headed in their direction with no way of stopping and she knew this. She braced herself as she felt both Majors bat her away and in the direction of a brick wall. The white haired teen sighed quickly as she once again prepared her body for the impact. She slammed into the wall and instantly knew she would be unable to move, feeling that she cracked a few fibs, broke her left hand and broke her right arm in three different places.

She took in her surroundings when she noticed something interesting with the smoke that was coming from a building across from her. The smoke was ice blue, similar to the pale girl's own grey eyes but the smoke had a tinge of electric blue laced in. The dancing of the smoke had brought a soft comfort to her as she closed her eyes and waited for the final strike...

It never came. Instead she heard a soft voice in its place.

"It would be a shame to see such a delicate icicle get crushed so soon after being covered by such a beautiful glaze. Rest for now, I shall take it from here." The boy stated quietly, as if he didn't intend for her to hear those words. Her eyes shot open, curiosity laced within the grey orbs when she saw a boy standing in front of her, blocking both Ursa's attacks with a katana and its sheath. She studied the boy carefully, making sure to engrave him into her memory so she would never forget his bravery. He had shiny, thick, long metallic silver hair with snow white tips, the hair reaching down to the middle of his back. He wore an open traditional kimono that was a maroon red with dark blue zigzags coming from the base of the kimono only to stop at his waist. Underneath the kimono he had a purple undershirt on that had a large X going from his shoulders to the base of the undershirt. He had long ash grey pants on that had smoky patterns decorating it. The boy turned his head to her, letting her see his kind, electric blue eyes. Those eyes changed from soft, electric blue to cold, ice blue before he gave her a comforting and cryptic statement.

"When a newly made icicle is threatened a comforting smoke will come and protect it with its cloak til it is out of harm's way..."

The boy pushed the two beasts away and bolt forward at them, using the rising dust from the sliding of the two Grimm. In a quick movement the sheath transformed into a tanto, which he then proceeded to shove into one of the Majors heart, killing the monster instantly. He preceded to dash to the last Ursa Major at a speed so fast that it looked like he flashed there. The Ursa could only let out a confused cross between a growl and a groan before being decapitated by the boy's katana. The boy transformed the tanto back to a sheath before using it to sheath the katana. He turned back to the girl before walking towards her. He had an ash grey undershirt on that had a large white X going from his shoulders to the base of his shirt. He kneeled to her level before handing her a medkit before walking away only to stall in his tracks and give her a mysterious message that sent her body into goose bumps.

"This shall not be the last time we will meet Weiss Schnee, nor was it the first..."

With that he continued walking away only to sigh loudly and disappear before her eyes, only a trailing plume of smoke in his place. Her eyes grew wide as she watched the smoke rise into the sky only to dissipate into nothingness, leaving not a trace of the boy.

"T-that smoke..." She began before trailing off. The smoke was an interesting color. The smoke was ice blue laced in a tinge of electric blue...

Part Three

A Shrouded Autumn Breeze

Blake and Yang had just received their first 'high-risk' pair mission. It was a simple Exterminate mission that was to be conducted on a pair of highly dangerous of King Taijitus hiding out deep within the Emerald Forest, a common training ground for Beacon Academy's students. The pair quickly found the duo of Kings and engaged both two headed snakes with the intention of not letting the fight draw on for too long. The two quickly found out why the pair of giant, black and white headed snakes were considered high risk. If the pair tried to single out one of the snakes they would be attacked from behind by the second dual-headed snake, If they tried to take one snake one-on-one they would be backed into a corner by the Kings, like they were now, which leads us to their current position.

...

"Dammit, this was supposed to be an easy 'high-risk' job! This is not how this was supposed to go!" A very buxom woman with gold blonde hair muttered to her partner. The black haired cat Faunus nodded slightly at Yang's grumbling before grabbing Yang and using all of the strength she had left, she used her shadow Semblance to flash from their current, shaded location to a large cluster of trees that was a good 15 meters away from the two Taijitus. When the pair's bodies began to form from the shadows of the trees the black head of a King shot forward at their location. With both girls having used all of their strength they braced for the onslaught of attacks to come. They had been swatted around by the four heads of the two snakes, obviously enjoying the looks of pain on the two girl's faces.

Blake was knocked towards a large tree, her body beaten and battered as she watched the black head of the King hissing while the white head opened its mouth to present its six foot pair of fangs. A chilly wind passed through her before she began to admire the shadow of the tree dancing on the ground around her before she noticed something odd with the shadows. They were dark purple with hints of fire orange in-between. She watched in awe as a figure built itself out of the hints of orange before making a soft statement.

"A swift, fleeting shadow being dispelled so soon after fighting so hard for its rightful cloak would be a shame. Rest easy for now, I will take it from here." A woman's voice emanated from the figure. The figure was a woman with long, shiny dark purple hair reaching past her shoulder blades. She wore a dark grey vest with waves of black on the top and bottom over top of a dark blue short sleeved shirt that had a large, white X going from the shoulders to the base of the shirt. She wore deep black detached sleeves with thin, moon white lines slowly fading into the black. She had on loose fitting, ash grey pants that had a storm cloud grey cape-like trail going from the back of her waist to the base of her knees. She wore large, blood red gauntlets with a midnight black outline, the armor covering most of her forearms. The woman turned her head to Blake, who stared deeply into the woman's pale, silver eyes before gasping. The woman's eyes changed drastically, going from silver to a haunting white that seemingly had wisps of dark blue, almost black shadows trailing behind the ghostly eyes before making an oddly comforting yet cryptic statement to the cat Faunus.

"When a newly made shadow is threatened and has nowhere left to run and its cloak can't conceal it anymore, a comforting darkness will enshroud it with its tendrils til it is out of harm's way..."

After making that statement the shadows began pouring into the gauntlets that were adorned on both of her wrists. The shadows created long, black, curved, layered blades on the red gauntlets materialized, the blades going past the purple haired woman's hands. After the blades finished materializing she slashed at the Taijitus black head. The snake barely dodged the blow but lost one of its eyes for its lateness. Enraged at the woman for harming its head the white head shot itself at the woman only to be met with a swift kick to the side of its long throat, destabilizing the snake and sending it soaring though the air...

... Meanwhile with Yang

Yang had all but lost the fire she was known for and felt helpless. The King slowly made its way over to where her crumpled form was. She managed to break both of her wrists as well as twist her left ankle and knew she wasn't going anywhere any time soon. She saw the sadistic grin marking the Taijitus dual heads, slowly slithering its way to her, its heads taking turns flicking their tongues at her tauntingly. As she watched the horrifying beast open both of its maws to crush and rip her to death she saw an interesting sight behind the snake. Floating gracefully behind the Grimm were sakura petals, but instead of being pink they were a combination of dark purple and gold orange. She watched the petals float by and sat in her spot numbly as she waited for the incoming pain and closed her eyes blissfully.

It never came, no pain, no loud snap of jaws, no nothing...

"A young flame about to be blown out after fighting so hard to change from a simple ember, what a shame. Rest easy, I'll take it from here." A woman said softly, as if trying to speak to a candle's flame without it going out. Yang opened her eyes and saw a woman keeping both heads at bay with her weapon, a pair of dark orange tonfa that had a steel grey tanto-like blade on its bottom side. She had a black hooded cloak decorated with illustrations of white sakura petals on it. Underneath the cloak she wore a purple short sleeved shirt that had a large white X going from the shoulders to the base of it. She long pants that cascaded from a light blue at the waist to a dark blue at the ankles. The woman had long, straight raven black hair that had electric blue tips that reached her waist, although her most noticeable feature were her eyes. Her right eye was soft amber, akin to a candle flame, while her left eye was covered by a purple maple leaf shaped eyepatch with a decorative silver cross going from the stem of the patch to the top. Yang watched as the woman's right eye changed from soft looking amber to a dark orange before the woman made a mysterious and comforting, yet cryptic statement.

"When an ember is about to be snuffed out a soft wind shall protect it and give it life once more and let it turn to a beautiful flame, the wind still protecting it..."

With that the woman spun both of her tonfa so their rear heads were outward before jabbing the King's white head in the throat, pushing the creature back some. Not wasting a single moment, the woman dashed to the darker head before she spun her body, utilizing her speed to give her extra weight before kicking the white heads counterpart in the throat, sending the creature flying due to the force, an act that very few could pull off. As the twin headed snake hurtled through the air like some poor excuse for a soccer ball, the raven haired woman watched as another King sailed the air along with it. She smirked as she watched her ally's handiwork. The two women met up with each other before glaring at their respective Taijitus before launching themselves at the crippled two-headed snakes.

The raven haired woman slashed at her King's white head. The bladed tonfa cut cleanly through bone, tissue, scales and whatever else the snake had going on in its neck. The head slid of the body before blood could even begin to seep from the white half's neck. The black head looked at the eyepatched woman with what looked to be an incredulous look on its face. Both Yang and Blake were in awe as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. While the woman with the tonfa was slicing off the white head, her armbladed counterpart decided to dash for the half blind black head of her own respective snake. She brought her left arm upwards across her body before slashing the head in its useable eye, blinding it. Wasting no time the purple haired woman jabbed her right armblade through the darker half's head, effortlessly killing the head. The blade retracted back into itself, hence its layers. She pushed herself off of the dead head, using it like a springboard before pushing her armblades in front of her in a diving position and began to spin. The two crippled teens dropped their jaws at this. They couldn't believe that the duo of saviors were making such short work of the twin snakes. To say that the woman with the armblades became a flurry of blades, slashes and speed would be a dramatic understatement; no the woman was a whirlwind of death. As she made short work of the King Taijiu's second head, effectively murdering the snake, her raven counterpart was ending the life of her own Taijitu. The woman with the tonfa took put no millisecond to waste as she jumped and, while in midflight, brought her bladed tonfa in an X formation in front of her and sliced the final head's eyes. The now blind, black half of the snake began thrashing around in a panicked fashion. The raven haired woman used the commotion to her advantage as she jumped on the head and stabbed both tonfa into it, ending its life.

As she back flipped off of the head she was met by her partner. The two women threw medkits at their respective injured teen, the woman with gauntlets throwing it towards Blake while the raven haired woman threw hers towards Yang before beginning to walk off. After pausing in their tracks they both made mysterious and unsettling statements to their teen.

"This will not be the last time we meet Blake Belladonna but it was not the first either..."

"This won't be the last time we meet Yang Xiao Long, nor was this encounter our first either..."

With that both woman continued walking only for the purple haired woman to dissolve into an interesting colored darkness while the woman with the eyepatch dissipated into oddly colored sakura petals. The two girls gasped at the sight as the darkness and petals began to fade out of existence.

"Those shadows..."

"Those petals..." Both Blake and Yang respectively began before trailing off. Both the shadows and the petals were dark purple with orange laced somewhere on them.

Part Four

An Announcing Autumn

Two months had passed since Team RWBY almost died but were saved. The four girls had explained what happened to them and all four of them noticed the obvious trends between the four accounts. They managed to recover quickly thanks to Beacon Academy's expensive medicine and large supply of Med-Dust, a rare type of dust that accelerates a person's healing abilities. The quartet of first years were gathered in the front of the academy for the second semester assembly and announcements. A man with silver-grey hair walked up to the podium to begin the speech to the students. After a good 20 minutes of droning on a subject quickly caught the attention of the four girls. It was about the new students that would be joining them this semester.

"And lastly, but most certainly not least, we have four students joining us who are from the notorious Lighthouse Academy. These four prodigies are not to be underestimated, now please hold your applause as I call out their names." The crowd began to grow in anticipation at the words 'prodigies' and 'not to be underestimated'

"Akito Unzari!" The man called out as a young man who looked to be only 16 years old began walking towards the podium. He had dark brown hair in a bedhead look and wore an unbuttoned black casual dress shirt with the collar up to give off an air of delinquency to him. Under the dress shirt he had a simple grey undershirt with a large white X going from his shoulders to the base of it. He wore upon his head a set of marble white headphones that had two large black dragons engraved on both ear pads (I don't know what they're called), one for each pad, the dragon's tails meeting at the middle of the headphones arc. He wore a madder red scarf around his waist, the knot on his left hip. He also adorned a four foot long black staff on the back of his waist. His pants were an array of different shades of purple in a ripple pattern. His most noticeable feature were his eyes. His left eye was violet whilst his right eye was covered by a sky blue eyepatch that was in the shape of a sakura petal that had a decorative silver cross on it.

Needless to say Ruby was floored that her savior was standing right in front of her. She heard a clamor gasps at the poor boy. She listened in on the conversations amongst her peers.

"Dude, what happened to his eye?!" One boy said in awe.

"I don't know man but it sure makes him look cool!" Another boy replied.

"He looks cute! I wonder if he'll like me…" A girl said dreamily.

"No way! Back off he's mine!" Another girl yelled at the previous girl.

The crowd was soon cut off when another name was announced by Ozpin, the silver haired man that was announcing the supposed prodigies' names.

"Trayals Plumez!" With that another boy who looked to be 16 years old walked beside Akito, a small grin on his face. He had long silver hair with snow white tips that reached the middle of his back. He wore an open traditional kimono that was maroon red that had electric blue zigzags coming from the base of it that stopped at his waist. Underneath the kimono he wore a purple undershirt that had a large white X going from the shoulders to the base of it. He wore ash grey pants that had black smoke decorating it. On his left hip was a white handled katana in a royal blue sheathe. His eyes were a piercing yet soft electric blue.

This time it was Weiss' turn to be floored. In front of her was an impossible image, it was Ruby's savior standing beside her savior. She heard another round of gasps and fawning. She listened in to what her peers were saying and almost felt ashamed to be near them.

"He looks so cool while the other boy is cute! Can this day get any better?" One girl commented.

"He's so cool to use a sword unlike the other who uses a metal staff, how is a metal staff supposed to be as cool as a freaking sword?!" Another fan girl stated ignorantly.

"He looks strong; I sure as hell don't wanna mess with him or his sword!" A male this time said fearfully.

"I wanna see those two fight!" Yelled someone else.

Ozpin quickly shushed the crowd of excited students once more and announced another name.

"Warlocke Venture!" A young woman who also looked to be 16 years of age walked up to the duo of and took her place. She had long, dark purple hair that reached a little bit past her shoulder blades. She wore a dark grey vest that had waves black on the top and bottom of it that was over top of a dark blue short sleeved shirt that also had a large white X going from the shoulders to the base of the shirt. Covering her arms were deep black detached sleeves with thin moon white lines fading into the black. On her legs she wore loose fitting ash grey pants that had a storm cloud grey cape-like trail going from the back of her waist to the base of her knees. Large, blood red gauntlets with a midnight black outline adorned her forearms. She had cold, pale silver eyes that seemed to scare almost everyone there... Almost.

Blake was the next one to be floored as she saw her savior standing in front of her on the stage along with the other two. Once again another wave of gasps and clamor began. This time Blake did one of the things she did best, eavesdrop.

"She's beautiful; I'm so going to date her!" One guy yelled with a lustful tone.

"She has gauntlets, what the hell kind of weapon are gauntlets!?" A girl yelled only to be KOed by an angry Yang.

Ozpin quieted the crowd once more and said the final name.

"Mei Aoyama!" After saying that one more 16 year old girl walked out. She had on a black hooded cloak decorated with illustrations of white sakura petals on it. Underneath the cloak she had on a purple short sleeved shirt that had a large white X going from the shoulders to the base of it. She wore long pants that cascaded from a light blue at the waist to a dark blue at the ankles. She had her two dark orange tonfa with the steel grey tanto-like blade on it's bottom side attached to her thighs, one attached on each. Her waist high, straight raven black, electric blue tipped hair played in the wind as she stood stoically beside her academy mates. Her most noticeable feature were her eyes though. Her right eye was a soft amber, while her left eye was covered by a purple maple leaf shaped eyepatch with a decorative silver cross going from the stem of the leaf shaped patch to the top.

The entirety of team RWBY nearly fainted at this sight as the ones who saved them stood before them. The four girls continued to stare in disbelief until a certain white haired heiress spoke up.

"The only way we can tell if they are the real deal is if their weapons match the ones of our saviors." The silver eyed girl said with a slight tone of cynicism laced in her voice. The others simply nodded in agreement and continued to watch.

"From this day forth, you four shall be known as team ATWM! (A/N It's pronounced 'Autumn')" Ozpin said with a very, very unnoticeable hint of excitement in his voice. Upon saying that, the newly formed team unsheathed their weapons, Akito having his staff transform into a five foot scythe, (A/N Why five foot? Because reasons...) Trayals unsheathing his katana whilst Warlocke's gauntlets morphed into her armblades (A/N Search up 'Nocturne League' and you'll see what the look like) and finally Mei simply reached down to her thighs and grabbed her tonfa before taking a stance. To say the crowd of students went wild from this little act would be an understatement of the highest degree, the students of Beacon went freaking ballistic at this little show of their weapons. Many of the girls began to finally stop doubting Akito's 'staff' and began to respect it due to the fame Ruby's own scythe has in the school. The same went for Warlocke's gauntlets due to how effective they could be with the right modifications.

After settling the crowd, albeit barely, Ozpin spoke directly to Team ATWM on where they would head to after the ceremony. The team would soon find out that the training field they were to go to was notorious for the instructor assigned to it, her name simply being Anko Lugia...


End file.
